Thomassie, Tynia 1959-

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THOMASSIE, Tynia 1959-

PERSONAL: Name pronounced, "TAHN-ya TOM-assie"; born September 1, 1959, in New Orleans, LA; daughter of Clarence Ray Thomassie (in contracting and welding) and Mireya Ponce (a nurse assistant and child care provider); married Michael Schmith, April 3, 1984 (divorced, March, 1987); married Dave Stryker (a jazz guitarist), April 20, 1991; children: Matthew Stryker, William Stryker. Education: Louisiana State University, B.A., 1980; attended the American Conservatory Theatre advanced acting program; attended New York University Continuing Education program (film production) and the New School (children's book illustration). Politics: Democrat. Religion: Unity. Hobbies and other interests: Film, theatre, cooking, wreath-making, dry flower arranging, music, gardening.

ADDRESSES: Home—West Orange, NJ. Offıce—Home Box Office, Inc., 1100 Avenue of the Americas, No. 13-13, New York, NY 10036. Agent—Edythea Selman, 14 Washington Pl., New York, NY. E-mail— [email protected].

CAREER: Home Box Office (HBO), New York, NY, manager and program researcher, 1987—. Lecturer on children's book writing.

MEMBER: Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators.

AWARDS, HONORS: Notable Children's Trade Book in the Social Studies selection, Children's Book Council/National Council for the Social Studies, 1996, for Feliciana Feydra LeRoux: A Cajun Tall Tale; Louisiana Young Readers' Choice Award, 2001, for Feliciana Meets d'Loup Garou: A Cajun Tall Tale.

WRITINGS:

Feliciana Feydra LeRoux: A Cajun Tall Tale, illustrated by Cat Bowman Smith, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1995.

Mimi's Tutu, illustrated by Jan Spivey Gilchrest, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1996.

Feliciana Meets d'Loup Garou: A Cajun Tall Tale, illustrated by Cat Bowman Smith, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1998.

Cajun Through and Through, illustrated by Andrew Glass, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 2000.

SIDELIGHTS: Tynia Thomassie's first book for children, Feliciana Feydra LeRoux: A Cajun Tall Tale, introduces Feliciana, a Cajun girl who lives in a large family. Although her "Grampa Baby" takes this youngest child fishing, treats her, and teaches her to dance, he does not allow Feliciana to join her older brothers in the family alligator hunt. Grandpa Baby tells Feliciana the hunt is too dangerous and her brothers tease her. Nevertheless, the daring Feliciana decides to sneak out and follow them one night. She confronts a hungry alligator, saves Grampa Baby, and even brings her family an alligator-tail feast. Next time, the family goes alligator hunting, Feliciana is assured, she will surely be included. Feliciana tells the family she may not want to go along next time—Grandpa Baby is too much trouble! In addition to the story, Thomassie provides her readers with notes on Cajun history, culture, pronunciation, and vocabulary, and on the current Cajun practice of alligator hunting.

Feliciana Feydra LeRoux, with colorful illustrations by Cat Bowman Smith, won praise from critics. Janice Del Negro of Booklist described Feliciana as a "whizbang heroine," and a Publishers Weekly critic wrote that Thomassie's "balance of comedy and suspense is masterful." According to School Library Journal contributor Judy Constantinides in a starred review, the work "captures the joie de vivre of Cajun Louisiana perfectly." Deborah Stevenson of the Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books observed that the "lilting text begs to be read aloud," and Lauren Adams concluded in Horn Book that listeners, "just like the LeRoux crew, are sure to 'pass a good time.'"

Feliciana returns in the story Feliciana Meets d'Loup Garou: A Cajun Tall Tale, in which Feliciana is grounded for cutting off one of her braids and cannot go to a family party with everyone else. Instead, she must stay home with her little brother ti-Jacques. But what seems like a boring evening turns into an adventure when Feliciana hears an animal howling outside and thinks it may be the legendary creature loup garou, the eater of bad children. She ventures into the swamp to find out. John Peters noted in Booklist that "Thomassie's prose rolls along with the cadence of a story told on the front porch." Similarly, a writer for Publishers Weekly believed "Thomassie's text possesses the easy yet suspenseful pace of a good campfire yarn."

In Cajun Through and Through Thomassie tells the story of two Cajun boys, Baptiste and Ti-Boy, who are visited by their city cousin. Poor Remington does not know much about Cajun life, hates jambalaya, dislikes swimming in the brown swamp water, and even loses a fishing rod. But eventually the three boys reconcile and discover the true meaning of family. Judith Constantinides, in the School Library Journal, dubbed the story "a fine offering." Writing in Booklist, Marta Segel especially praised Thomassie's storytelling: "The idioms and pacing of the language beautifully mimic Cajun oral storytelling traditions."

Thomassie once explained that she "never set out to be an author." Instead, she intended to become an actress. "I remember when I was about five, my 'Aunt Lorraine' who was a remarkable clairvoyant, was looking at the lines in my hand. I asked her, 'How many times will I be married?' She said, 'Two.' Then she smiled at me and said, 'You're going to be a really fine writer one day.' I whipped my hand back in horror—even at five—that's not what I wanted. But her predictions always hung on my breath—like a strong red onion.

"I attended a school in New Orleans where literature and writing were heavily stressed. We were always encouraged to keep journals, write stories, essays, plays—and I learned to express myself well through the written word. I think because I had no professional aspirations tied to writing (and still don't—even with the sale of my fourth book, I am shocked that someone deems my stories publishable), it has somehow remained 'pure' for me."

Thomassie was twenty-six years old when, as she related, she "experienced one of those 'crashes' in life where you have to take spiritual inventory and reassess whether your choices have been personally enriching ones. I was in a failed marriage, my aunt and my grandmother—both my guardians since I was fourteen—died in the same year, and I was miserable pursuing a career that dealt daily rejections on a very personal level. Long story short—I decided to 'follow my joy' and took a class in children's book writing and illustration at the New School in New York City. I realized that no matter how dark and sarcastic I felt about things going on around me, if I was in the children's book section of a store, I became uplifted with hope and the awe of a child."

Thomassie concluded: "The children's books I find most inspiring, and the kind of stories I like to write are ones that empower the child to conquer her/his world. I really enjoy the control I feel as a writer. If I want to put a light switch on the sun and have my characters turn it on and off at will—I can do that. If I want my characters to fly, to have gills, to save the day—I can let them. I'm not bound by the constraints of the adult world. How freeing! How wonderful!"

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, April 1, 1995, Janice Del Negro, review of Feliciana Feydra LeRoux: A Cajun Tall Tale, p. 1429; April 15, 1998, John Peters, review ofFeliciana Meets D'Loup Garou, p. 1454; March 15, 2000, Marta Segal, review of Cajun Through and Through, p. 1390.

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, May, 1995, Deborah Stevenson, review of Feliciana Feydra LeRoux, p. 324.

Horn Book, September-October, 1995, Lauren Adams, review of Feliciana Feydra LeRoux, p. 592.

Publishers Weekly, May 1, 1995, review of Feliciana Feydra LeRoux, p. 58; April 20, 1998, review of Feliciana Meets D'Loup Garou, p. 66.

School Library Journal, April, 1995, Judy Constantinides, review of Feliciana Feydra LeRoux, p. 118; April, 1998, review of Feliciana Meets D'Loup Garou, p. 111; May, 2000, Judith Constantinides, review of Cajun Through and Through, p. 156.